The present invention is broadly concerned with improvements in equipment for fishing and, more particularly, with improvements in spinnerbait types of fishing lures.
Fishing is an ancient practice which is principally pursued to provide food for human consumption. Commercial fishing gathers large numbers of fish at a time, usually by drawing nets through schools or other groups of fish. In recreational or sport fishing, the aim is to entice a single fish at a time to strike at, and get snagged by, a hook. The hooked fish may then be harvested for consumption or unhooked and released alive. Typically, a hook is embedded into or through live or food baits or attached to artificial lures to motivate a fish to strike or bite at the bait or lure and, thus, become hooked.
Fishing lures are designed to attract a fish's attention by the use of movement, vibration, flash, appearance, and color. Many lures are equipped with one or more hooks that are used to catch fish when they strike the lure. Most lures are attached to the end of a fishing line and have various styles of hooks attached to the body or frame and are designed to elicit a strike by a fish. Various types of lures have been used since ancient times.
A particular type of lure is referred to as a spinnerbait. The term spinnerbait encompasses a family of fishing lures that employ one or more metal blades shaped to spin when the lure is in relative motion to water, creating varying degrees of flash, water currents, and vibration that mimic small fish or other prey. Spinnerbaits attract predatory fish primarily by activating a special sense organ called the lateral line system by the action of the spinning blade. The lateral line is a system of sense organs found in many aquatic vertebrates which are used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. The lateral line system allows the detection of movement and vibrations in the water surrounding an animal, providing spatial awareness and the ability to navigate in space. This plays an essential role in orientation, predatory behavior, and social schooling. Spinnerbaits can also stimulate other senses of fish, such as sight, to mimic prey by creating flashes in the water.
A common type of spinnerbait lure is referred to as a “safety-pin” or overhead blade spinnerbait. A safety-pin spinnerbait includes a framework formed by a spring wire bent to form upper and lower legs at an angle of about 60 to 90 degrees. The lower leg has a weighted hook secured thereto, with a barb of the hook oriented upwardly. A lead weight is positioned at an end of the hook opposite the hook and may have an image of an eye applied thereto to give the arrangement the look of a fish. The hook may be surrounded by a skirt formed of flexible fringes, feathers, or the like. The upper leg of the frame has a spinner blade connected thereto, usually by a swivel, to enable the spinner to spin freely as the lure is drawn through water. The spinner blade is typically convex/concave and often has a teardrop shape. A fishing line is tied to the lure at the vertex between the upper and lower legs of the wire. The weight of the weighted hook side of the hook exceeds that of the spinner blade side of the lure such that, when in water, the hook side assumes a lower position with the spinner blade above.